Training concerns around Prevent Duty for education institutions eased by availability of new e-learning course
Marshall, the Equality & Diversity specialist e-learning consultancy, have launched a new course in response to recent changes formulated by the UK Government’s £40 million national counter-terrorism strategy, easing concerns from teachers and lecturers working in further education institutions that government support around the legislation has been “patchy”.
The launch follows the results of a survey of Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members working in English FE colleges, which indicated that 45 per cent of those questioned had not had any training in how to stop students being drawn into terrorism and that 29 per cent of staff were not aware that FE colleges would be subject to the duty.
Guildford College have already rolled out the new “Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges” course to tackle the issue of integration, understanding and religious freedoms. A video introducing the Prevent Duty training course can be found on the Marshall E-Learning website at marshallelearning.com/prevent-duty-training.
Michael Howard, an Equality and Diversity consultant at Marshall E-Learning, explains how the course helps organisations meet legislation and ease concerns around the Prevent Duty:
“We’ve found that organisations have really been struggling with delivering Prevent training. So what we’ve done through conversations with clients was to look at what they wanted and really needed to deliver in this area. Rather than look at this from a compliance point of view, we’ve built the course into the existing safeguarding agendas that organisations already run. The programme is very accessible to anyone, can be done on a one-off basis, or can be used for revisiting so people can reinforce their learning at any particular stage.”
David Marshall, founder and director of Marshall E-Learning, explained why they developed the course:
“When we spoke to colleagues and clients in the higher education sector about how we could best fulfil their training needs in the wake of the Prevent legislation, the legal and ethical challenges facing campuses became clear. This course is about making your campus more inclusive and caring by helping people to communicate with each other in a positive way. We’ve worked hard to create a course that is within our client’s values and will help organisations across the UK deliver Prevent training to their teams.”
One of the requirements of this new legislation is that all Public Sector organisations must take responsibility to ensure they are compliant with the new laws - particularly those who deal with children and vulnerable adults. The new “Inclusive, Cohesive & Safe Campuses and Colleges” course fulfils the legal requirements of the Terrorism and Security Act 2015, while not compromising the values of equality and diversity.
Universities and colleges have a duty to safeguard their students already, but Marshall’s new course puts into perspective the types of discussions Higher Education and Further Education employees can and should be having with their students about managing views in a safe environment, including what this means within a diverse society and how best to manage that process.
Further Education institutions interested in finding out how Marshall E-Learning’s course can help them address the Prevent Duty should contact David Marshall on 0845 123 3909 or at contactus@marshallacm.co.uk.